Arsonist set light to bins at petrol station and close to house in 3-day fire spree

Extended sentence for 'dangerous offender'

- Sentinel Reporter

ARSONIST Tony Stockdale put lives at risk by starting a fire at a petrol station.

The 54-year-old took lighter fluid from a box on the forecourt and used it to set alight a recycling bin.

Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard he also set fire to a wheelie bin, which spread to a wooden fence and forced occupants to evacuate their house while firefighters put out the blaze.

And he set fire to a bag of rubbish outside a barber shop and a bin outside a snooker club.

Now Stockdale has been handed an eight-year extended sentence after he was assessed as being a dangerous offender. The sentence is made up of five years, four months in custody with an extended licence period of two years, eight months.

Prosecutor Salek Ahmed said a man working at Longton Snooker Club at 7am on April 23 was made aware an outside bin was on fire. Mr Ahmed said: “He went and put it out. The fire service was not called. He later reviewed the CCTV. It showed the defendant rummaging in the bins before transferring a burning plastic sheet from one bin to another.”